Xia Feng (E-Com Expert & CEO, The How Consulting)
Well-rounded, multi-cultural business leader at the intersection of digital transformation, strategy and financial planning, and global marketplace management. Xia Feng is not the typical executive you’ll find in the US. A well-spoken native Chinese, Xia has spent the past 20 years developing and executing growth strategies at Fortune 500, private sector, and startups in the US and Europe amid fast-changing markets undergoing rapid digital transformation.
Known for her agility, Xia has distinguished herself in building new thriving businesses in the large public organizations and fast-paced private ones. She uses her diverse business expertise, multi-cultural background, and global operational experience to help founders ad startups run well and scale, and help large matrix organizations stay innovative.
Xia founded The How Consulting, a performance-based consultancy aimed to help well-established companies and startups to turn their strategic intent (Why) and business plan (What) into actions and results (How). The How Consulting offers a range of consulting services and implementation support in three areas: 1) corporate and BU-level strategy development, 2) digital transformation and eCommerce growth, 3) international and cross-border commerce.
Xia was previously VP/GM, International at Barneys New York, a legendary US luxury retailer. A self-starter, Xia quickly identified and realized opportunities to improve Barney’s fast-growing international eCommerce business’s profitability. She also drove digital marketplace revenue growth in China through awareness building and customer experience optimization.
Before Barneys, Xia led a long, successful career at VF Corporation, a global conglomerate and the parent company of The North Face, Vans, and Timberland. She first led various strategy roles at VFC’s HQ in the US. Her work informed critical board level and C-suite decisions in MA, portfolio management, brand building, and innovation. Eventually, she became the first VP of Digital at VF Europe based out of Switzerland. Under her leadership, eCommerce delivered outstanding revenue growth to the entire European business; new work models with strategic partners were created, piloted, and rolled out from Europe to the US and China; a customer-centric digital vision and capability roadmap was established, and substantial progress underway.
Early in her career, Xia worked at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and Edelman PR in China. She gained rich experience localizing iconic global brands like Volkswagen and Kodak in the burgeoning domestic Chinese market.
Xia holds an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill in the US and a BA in journalism from Fudan University in Shanghai. She also graduated from the Executive Program for Women Leaders at Stanford University, Graduate School of Business. She is a sought-after public speaker and a mentor recognized for motivating young, minority women in their professional development.